Russia thwarts planned drone attack on strategic facility near Moscow

MOSCOW, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said Tuesday that it had thwarted a large-scale drone attack planned by Ukraine's Security Service against a strategic enterprise in the Moscow region.

According to the FSB, the plot involved 35 first-person view drones previously smuggled into Russia and planned to be launched remotely from a warehouse near the targeted facility.

The agency said intelligence led to a special operation in which all drones were destroyed without endangering the facility or nearby civilians. The main perpetrator, a Russian citizen, was detained after assembling and activating the drones and establishing communication with operators abroad. Another suspect was killed after opening fire on law enforcement officers during his arrest.

The FSB has opened a criminal case on charges of committing a terrorist act.

Earlier, the FSB busted similar plots in which suspects recruited by Ukraine's Security Service planned to launch drone swarm attacks on military airfields in Rostov-on-Don city, the Amur region and the Chelyabinsk region. Enditem